Security concerns growing at luxury apartment complex in Northwest DC

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — Neighbors living in a luxury apartment building in Northwest D.C. are fed up with ongoing security issues at the complex.

“There’s a lack of responsibility and accountability,” said Stephanie Streuber, who lives at Banner Lane. “I love living here, I love living in D.C. It’s just disappointing that so many people feel like there’s nowhere to go.”

According to Streuber, who has lived in the building for more than a year, safety concerns have gone unaddressed.

“Anyone can enter the building, anyone can go into the garage because there’s no security at all. It’s called courtesy patrol instead of security that we’re expected to have in the area,” she said.

Streuber said there have been several shootings in the neighborhood – with one happening inside the building last night.

A police report from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) shows the department responded to a shooting Monday night. It’s currently being investigated as an assault with a dangerous weapon. Building management said it was an isolated incident.

Still, Streuber said by Tuesday morning evidence of the crime scene was still visible.

“The caution tape was gone and all of the blood was everywhere, nothing had been cleaned,” she said.

She and others expressed a lack of response from building management.

“It’s a disappointing situation and it could’ve been handled better and we’re just ignored or made to feel like you can’t say anything,” she explained.

Banner Lane is a Toll Brothers property.

Rent for available units in the building start at just under $2,000 a month and max at out at nearly $5,000 a month for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit.

“There’s nothing luxurious happening here right now,” said one resident, who asked we not share her identity.

The woman described the frustrations of living in the building.

“My experience is other individuals who do not reside here are utilizing the latch, they’re using amenities I’m paying for, destroying property I’m living in. It may not be the residents but it’s someone providing access to the building,” she said.

The latch is a type of keyless entry for the building and its amenities, which can be accessed through a code. The woman and other tenants noted the system is often broken, or people share the code for nonresidents to use.

“It’s frustrating because you put your hard-earned money into a space that you assumed would be amazing. When I toured the building, it was beautiful. But when there are outside individuals who don’t reside here and come and disrupt the peace that we have, it’s problematic,” the woman said.

Carl Dandridge, who formerly lived in the building, said he broke his lease just a few weeks ago due to ongoing issues.

“The garage door is still not working,” he said. “The garage we pay for parking for is unattended, vehicles have been stolen from the parking garage, making us feel extremely unsafe.”

Dandridge said at one point he was attacked inside the building.

In another instance, he said residents were shot with fireworks while walking outside.

He claims management was unresponsive.

“The communication is so vague it’s like, am I just talking to this brick wall over here when I’m talking to property management?” he said.

Dandridge said he tried making the situation better by starting a large group chat for neighbors to share information. And while that did help some, he said the problems with management persisted.

He eventually worked with DC’s Office of the Attorney General to work out an agreement to break his lease.

DC News Now reached out to property management.

In a statement specifically responding to Monday’s shooting, Toll Brothers said:

With regard to the incident that occurred in our community last night, the Metropolitan Police Department is working diligently to investigate the situation, and we are cooperating with them to provide any assistance we can in this matter, including providing video surveillance from our security cameras. Authorities have indicated that this is an isolated incident involving a single individual, and that there is no threat to the community. Our thoughts are with this individual and their family.

The safety and well-being of our residents is our top priority. While authorities have indicated that this was an isolated incident, we are increasing our courtesy patrol hours and working with the MPD to further enhance the security of our community.

Banner Lane Apartments

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